Giving a prospective employee a test to measures their basic writing and math skills provides better results than three other types of screening employees. Interviews work only half as well as tests, and the success of choosing the best employee is about 1/4 of the time. A person's educational level or prior experience are even less useful indicators of how successful they will be.
Aptitude tests measure critical thinking, problem solving and how well a person can apply new techniques to a specific situation. These skills are necessary in a wide variety of jobs. However it is also important to make sure the test covers the specific knowledge, skills and abilities required for a specific job.
The CBST has reliably chosen employees who do well and those who do not. Job performance of those who passed had a higher level of productivity than those who had failed. The people who failed only got an average rating of 6.0 by supervisors, while those who passed were rated 9.8 on average.